At Arm's Length
by holeyearmuffins
Summary: At the prestigious Alice Academy, Mikan has the.. pleasure to meet Natsume, a very well known male on campus. While he keeps himself at a distance and tells no one his secrets, Mikan is open. But she has a secret of her own...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice doesn't belong to me. This disclaimer will be said only once, because I find it unnecessary to keep telling y'all the same thing. Thanks for reading.

_chapter I_

_I'm so screwed_, I thought to myself, before I looked at my reflection in the mirror of my dorm at Alice Academy, a prestigious boarding school that only allowed the rich and influential to enter. The academy was a strange school; first of all, the academy had 3 different buildings: one for the middle school kids, the high scholars, and the college students. The students were all segregated by wealth, so literally everyone stayed with the same people year after year. Another strange thing was that the academy was probably worth more than Japan and America combined. I mean, really, who puts spiraling staircases, enormous chandeliers, and expensive furniture in every single room for adolescent scholars? It just didn't make any sense. Also, when I entered my 'doubles' dorm room (my dorm mate has yet to come) it was larger than my garage, had a balcony with a gorgeous view of the campus, a beautiful Victorian-styled bathroom, and two canopy queen-sized beds. With what I've seen so far of this wealthy school, I'll bet you that everyone here will be stunningly beautiful, but snobby. This thought made me absolutely excited to see Hotaru Imai, my dorm mate. I shook my head and proceeded to change into my uniform to see if it fit. It basically consisted of a forest green plaid skirt (that was too short for my liking. It only reached mid-thigh!), a navy blue blazer, a black tie, and a white blouse. If I wasn't a scholarship student, heavens knows what I would've had to pay for it. Maybe around 500,000 yen? Anyway, this uniform was overly expensive, and unnecessary, for a 16-year-old. I looked at the grandfather clock and it read 5:00 pm. Butterflies were beginning to form in my stomach, as I mentally prepared myself for tomorrow; the dreaded first day of school. I was shocked out of my contemplation of how to escape the place when the door opened slowly. I panicked, thinking that it was a ghost, or a serial killer out to get me. I started to become light headed from all of the thoughts that came rushing to my head, until I saw who the intruder was.

The 'murderer' was only a girl. A really gorgeous girl with a willowy figure, deep indigo hair that ended at her shoulders, and side bangs that accentuated her dark amethyst eyes and cheek bones. The sunlight that streamed in through the glass window, which led out to the balcony, highlighted her pale skin.

"Are you Mikan Sakura?" Her exquisite voice made me realize that I stared at her, with my mouth opened agape like a fish. I felt my face getting red. Gods, that was embarrassing.

"Y-yes. I guess you're Hotaru Imai? Nice to meet you!" I mentally slapped myself for sounding like a love struck fool. Don't get me wrong, I'm not into girls, but she certainly 'dazzled' me. Like what Edward Cullen did to Bella Swan all the time.

Hotaru arched a perfectly made eyebrow at me, but then smiled a little. I relaxed and found myself grinning also. I instantly knew that we were going to be close friends.

"You're an idiot." She stated blandly.

Or maybe not.

_The next day_

I reluctantly woke up to the sound of the academy's grandfather clock ringing. I unenthusiastically dragged myself into the shower and did my morning routine. When it came to putting on the uniform, I appreciatively thought that one didn't have to spend any time deciding what to wear at this academy. All one had to do was put on the uniform and that's it. The downside is that this skirt is really, REALLY, (have I said really?) really short. I solved this problem by pulling on some black socks that ended just above my knee, and even though I still felt uncomfortable about the skirt, I sucked it up. I finished up in the bathroom, putting my boring brown hair up in a messy bun and stuck some bobby pins in, letting my fringed bangs hang limply over my eyes. I walked to the kitchen to Hotaru (I know, we have a kitchen in our dorm room. How unbelievable is that?), who really does consider me as a friend because I realized that she only smiles at people she's comfortable with, and grinned at her. The memories of our little 'Get to know each other' talk from last night came to me, and it was successful, much to my surprise.

"So, Hotaru, may I call you that?" She nodded politely. "Okay, so tell me about yourself Hotaru.. What is your family like?" She told me that she had an older brother, whom she called 'Him,' and at first I was pretty confused, because I thought she was talking about Jesus or God. But then she hit me with this painful little gun called the _Baka Gun_ and told me that he was a human being. Then, she proceeded to explain to me that her brother disowned her, and her parents could care less about their daughter, because they couldn't have a female run their business (a very wealthy investing business she told me). So, she decided to enroll into the academy on her own volition, and her parents were glad to be rid of her. Hotaru said all of this in her signature deadpan voice, but I couldn't help but notice that a slight shimmer of sadness was reflected in her violet eyes. Then it was my turn, and I told her that I grew up in a tiny town that was far from this academy, but still in Tokyo. I explained to her that my parents were honest citizens, but they were killed in a gun fight that broke out in a bank. I was then left with my grandparents on my mom's side, and since then, I've worked hard to get my scholarship to come to this place. I was holding back on my background, and I knew Hotaru sensed it, but she didn't pry. That's one of her best characteristics, in my opinion. She knew where to draw the line in a conversation between strangers, who are just getting to know each other. But I had a gut feeling that she was going to bring it up one day.

"About time, idiot." She got up from her place at the counter, where she was reading the business section of the newspaper, and held up a heavenly pot of my most adored drink in the whole world. Next to orange juice, that is. "Coffee?" I nodded gratefully as she poured a generous amount of it into my special, polka-dotted mug. She placed it in front of me, and said almost apologetically, "We don't have any sugar, or milk, or food for that matter. We should probably go grocery shopping after school today." I proceeded to take two white pills out of my skirt's pocket and swallowed them. I saw Hotaru's inquiring expression and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"I've been having a.. major migraine since last night." Hotaru didn't look convinced, so I quickly changed the subject. "It's okay, I can live with black coffee. And how are we going to get to the grocery store? I thought we were allowed only one visit out of the academy per month." I said, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. But of course, I had to be blessed with terrible acting skills, because Hotaru gave me a quizzical look.

"But the campus has a grocery store..." She replied after a beat, deciding to let it go for the moment. When I heard that, it's quite embarrassing actually, but I choked on my coffee and I could only imagine how my face looked. Probably a mixture of disbelief mixed with my eyes popping out of their sockets. Anyway, she slid into her stool, which was next to mine at the counter, and showed me the campus map. There, I could see the whole layout of the academy's high school and its college. Hotaru pointed a perfectly manicured nail at a little town next to Alice's high school, and the square said Central Town on it.

"Oh, well.. that's convenient. I'm guessing you also know how we're going to get there?" Hotaru nodded and told me that there were limos that took you to the town. Figures.

After drinking our two cups of coffee, we grabbed our backpacks and headed out of the dorm. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw how many beautiful male and female students were milling about on our floor. Apparently, the academy allowed the dorms to be coed, and could care less about what happened there. While I was gaping stupidly, Hotaru had enough sense to come to my rescue and drag me off to the opening ceremony that was going to begin in the school's rose garden. Every now and then I would openly point at some kids and say "Hey, I saw him/her on T.V.! I can't believe this." Eventually I stopped, because I could tell that my impromptu friend was getting pretty annoyed. Okay, pretty is an understatement, but never mind the details. We soon arrived at the rose garden (with me being able to walk again) and we settled into the very comfortable chairs they provided. Even at this gathering, the academy catered to everyone's needs. They brought waiters out to serve caviar and 'champagne,' which I have never heard of before, but Hotaru told me that it's an alcoholic beverage, so that was incentive enough not to go near it. Then, the low hum of everyone talking disappeared, and my attention was reverted to the small podium in the middle of our circle of chairs. Everyone began to respectfully clap for a tall man, maybe mid 40's, who went up to the mike. I guessed he was the headmaster of the school, so I joined in on the applause. Soon, we were all silenced as he began to speak. His voice was very monotonous, and I found myself falling asleep, but Hotaru kept kicking or pinching me, until the entrance ceremony was done. After that, we were jostled towards the Central Wing of the high school, where a computer printed out our schedule when we typed in our student ID number. Hotaru and I had only three classes together (much to my dismay), so we planned to meet in front of the Sakura tree behind the academy, after school. We went our different ways, Hotaru, on her way to Home Economics, and I, on my way to History.

I found my way to the classroom without any incidents and entered. Inside, everyone was segregated into their groups of friends in the large classroom. I was about to go grab a window seat, when I saw a group of incredibly handsome (more like hot) boys huddled in a corner, as to what they were around, I would soon find out. I changed my mind, and I looked around the room for another available seat. My eyes then traveled over to another group who stuck out to me across the room from the band of boys. When I gazed at the girls, one of them made eye contact with me. She motioned me over with a friendly smile, and I took it as a warm invitation into their group. I accepted gratefully, because I certainly did not want to hang out with the nerdy guy in the other corner, the buffed up man-woman, the pimply kid who just picked his nose, etc.

When I made my way over to the four girls, the one who waved me over introduced herself first. Her name was Sumire Shouda, and her family owned most of the elite beauty salons that only high class celebrities could get into. She had straight, forest green hair with some wisps of curly tendrils, and her hazel eyes went well with her slightly tanned skin. When I sat next to her in the group, I could see that a cute dimple would form on her cheek every time she laughed or smiled. After I met Sumire, two of the three girls introduced themselves as Nonoko Ogasawara and Anna Umenomiya. They have been best friends since elementary school, since their families created a company, together, dedicated to catering and running very successful restaurants. Nonoko was a very stunning girl, with auburn hair, high cheekbones, and light freckles, she surprised me with her meek attitude (whereas Sumire's personality was more outgoing and brave). Her best friend, Anna, had bubblegum-pink hair, that strangely suited her, and clear blue eyes. She was the 'artistic one' of the group and was also dubbed the 'crazy one.' I don't know why her friends thought she was crazy, because she seemed normal enough to me, but when I voiced this aloud, everyone started laughing hysterically.

"Wait till you hang out with her more. Then you'll know what we're talking about." I smiled uneasily at them.

"Hi, Mikan.. My name is Nobara Ibaragi." A delicate voice mumbled from behind me. I turned around and gasped. Nobara looked like a model; she had delicate features, big grayish-green eyes, and her hair was perfectly done in ringlets. She smiled shyly at me, until Sumire started waving her hand in front of my face.

"Helloo, you're going to get a bug in your mouth if you keep gaping at her like that. It's kinda creepy, also." I snapped my mouth closed and blushed. _This reaction seems to be happening to me a lot lately_, I reflected.

"Oh my gosh, so have you heard? Ruka and Natsume are attending the academy now! THEY'RE IN THIS CLASS!" Sumire squealed. I was about to ask her who Ruka and Natsume were, when the room got dead silent. Everybody's head were facing towards the back left corner of the room, and I slowly turned my head. An unbelievably handsome guy was standing up, casually stuffed his tanned hands into his pockets. I could tell that he had messy black hair, and when he looked up, I heard my sharp intake of breath. He had the most hauntingly beautiful crimson eyes I've ever seen. Standing up next to him was a Zac Efron look-a-like. I swear by the bible and my mom's grave that he had the same exact face structure and hair, except he had platinum blonde hair and the prettiest periwinkle colored eyes. The taller one of the two, the boy with crimson eyes, looked at me, and I noted a flash of interest in his eyes, which soon faded into a smug face.

"Hey, Strawberries, you're drooling a little." A low, husky voice said. All of the girls in the classroom began to smile dreamily at him as I was trying extremely hard not to run up to him and bash his face in, while kicking him in the place where the sun doesn't shine. I could hear the blood rushing to my ears as his voice bounced around my head. _Hey, Strawberries.. Strawberries.._

"What did you just call me?" I wished I could've just kept my mouth shut, because that one line caused my whole life to turn upside down. Or maybe it was the thing that happened afterwards. Either way, he was slowly walking over to me. His polished shoes echoed loudly throughout the room and stopped when he was in front of me. He put his face extremely close to mine and said in a stage whisper, "you should cross your legs like a proper lady, Strawberries." Everyone in his posse guffawed, except for Blondie, while I gawked at him as he pulled his face away from mine. He straightened up, and up close, I could tell that he had a killer body. But never mind that, who was this kid? Instead of asking him that logical question, something entirely else happened. I swear I didn't mean to, but everything just happened so fast, and I was royally pissed off at this pervert for even having the nerve to look up my skirt. I stood up, raised my hand, and before anyone blinked, smacked him clear across the face.

On my first day of school, I slapped one of the hottest men on campus: Natsume Hyuuga.

AN: In case you haven't noticed, I'm terrible with grammar.


	2. Chapter 2

_chapter II_

The sound of my hand hitting his cheek reverberated throughout the room. Everyone's eyes bugged out with their mouths agape, and time stood still. But Blondie broke the spell, as he rushed over to his best friend.

"Natsume..?" His melodious voice asked mildly. "Are you alright?"

Six million, bazillion eyes whipped towards Natsume to see his reaction. They got their wish as Natsume lightly touched the red handprint on his cheek. He looked at me with calm eyes, but I detected a hint of anger and.. interest? My gray eyes met his crimson ones, and we were left in our own little world analyzing each other. A few seconds later my eyes started to water, so I broke our telepathic connection and looked at the only thing that didn't stare accusingly at me: my feet. When I looked down, everyone whipped out their cell phones and texted all of their friends about what happened. _Great._

"I'm fine." He finally answered quietly. His low voice sent shivers down my spine, and I could feel his unblinking stare still directed towards me. Luckily, my history teacher just so happened to enter the room right then. Everyone walked to their seats and sat down, whereas I practically ran to my seat. I sighed with relief, while the teacher (Mr. Narumi) clapped his hands delightedly.

"Now, now children, no need to sit down with your friends! I'll be assigning seats for y'all." Everyone groaned simultaneously while they got their stuff, and lined up against the wall. _God, if you're there, please put me somewhere next to a friend_. Mr. Narumi began to pick students at random as he walked through the rows of seats. When most of my friends were seated, except for Sumire, he called out my name. "You sit here." I grabbed my stuff off the floor and walked slowly to my seat. "Ah, and you miss, you may go ahead and sit next to her." I smiled giddily as Sumire slid into the seat next to me. _Yes! I love you God!_ But my smile quickly disappeared when Mr. Narumi decided to put Blondie and the jerk behind me. I gulped audibly while what's-his-face quietly sat down in the seat directly behind me. _Why me? Oh no.. He's probably going to make smart ass comments throughout the whole lesson..._

Surprisingly, he stayed silent during the history lesson, but his gaze never wavered.

When the heavenly bell rang, I bolted out of the room to second period. _I wish I could switch classes..._ was my only thought. After getting lost several times, I finally found my english class. I burst into the room and excitedly looked around the sea of unfamiliar faces, until I found Hotaru. I giddily ran to her, but then I saw who she was talking to; Blondie. I frowned, but nonetheless, I greeted him politely. He smiled at me, which instantly made me realize that he wasn't like his friend.

"Hi, sorry about earlier.. Natsume can say some inappropriate stuff. I'm Ruka Nogi by the way, may I ask what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Mikan Sakura, but you can go ahead and call me Mikan. Nice to meet you!"

Hotaru spoke up after our introductions. "So I heard from Nogi that you slapped Hyuuga? I didn't know you were that moronic. I'm surprised he didn't do the usual thing Hyuuga does to his fan girls." I furrowed my eyebrows and frowned.

"Okay, first of all, that jerk had it coming to him. I mean, anyone who's ego is as big as a continent, has a stupidly cocky attitude and makes unnecessary comments will get smacked sooner or later. Also, what do you mean by moronic? I'm quite smart, thank you very much. And that jerk has fan girl's? Who in their right mind would go after that piece of work? People here are seriously out of their minds." I blabbered angrily, and I still had more to say, until Hotaru interrupted me.

"So why hasn't he told her off yet, Nogi?" She asked blandly. Ruka shrugged.

"I have no idea really. I expected him to go ahead and get her kicked out of the academy right away. But he didn't, which is not like him.. he was also unusually quiet during first. Maybe he's interested in you Mikan." I shivered at the very thought of it. _No way in hell would he be interested in me. I'm too boring, and I hate his guts. The day he starts liking me is the day pigs fly, the end of the world is here, and the Jonas Brothers stop wearing tight jeans._ While I was mentally criticizing Ruka's comment, Hotaru looked at me thoughtfully.

_Lunch_

I could hear everyone whispering in the lavish cafeteria. Disdainful looks were tossed at me and many weren't bothering to mask their remarks. I attempted to make myself look small by looking at the carpeted floor. I quickly stepped over to the lunch line, where everyone chose to ignore me. Some even walked out of the line just to get away from me. _Well isn't this dandy?_ Two other guys joined the line as it finally started moving again.

"Oh, yeah, _she_ slapped Natsume. I can't believe he put up with that crap." _Good question, why didn't he do anything?_

"You mean _she's_ the new scholarship student? Dude, I heard she used to be Natsume's girlfriend, but then she found out he was cheating on her with Koizumi." _Err.. say what?_

"No way, _the_ Koizumi?" _Who's Koizumi?_

"Yes, _that_ Koizumi. Anyway, I would much rather have a piece of that, then Koizumi. I like the feisty ones." I abruptly turned around to the rude teens behind me, clenching my fists, attempting to keep my temper in check.

"Excuse me, but could you perhaps whisper a little quieter? The 'feisty one' in front of you can hear every single vulgar thing that's coming out of your mouths." I was blinded with frustration, and I didn't realize that the two were grinning like the Cheshire Cat from _Alice in Wonderland_. Only when I realized that the two weren't responding did I actually look at them. I realized that they were both in Hyuuga's little clan. My brain then processed the upward curves of their lips and their perfect white teeth shining brightly at me. "Um.. Did I miss something here? Why are you both smiling at me?"

The two of them kept on grinning annoyingly. _Oh, I get it. They're trying to rile me up, because they think it's fun._ I rolled my eyes at them. _It's like middle school all over again._ Just as I was about to order my bowl of lobster bisque, someone grabbed me by the shoulders out of nowhere. I shrieked out of reflex, but that was no use, because instead of letting go like what I wanted, my kidnapper put me over his shoulder and dragged me out of the shocked cafeteria. I flailed around on his shoulder as we exited the building, my kidnapper finally put me down; he was one of the guys behind me. Behind him, I saw his friend gingerly rubbing his ears.

"Damn, you can scream! Seriously, I feel bad for you Koko." I looked at him curiously, and saw that there was a small star-shaped scar under one of his cerulean eyes. The vulgar kid, Koko, winced as his back cracked audibly.

"You should pity me. She scream right in my poor ear... and she's heavy." He complained. Koko's hazel eyes turned to me. "Are you alright, Screamer?" One of my eyebrows shot up.

"What did you just call me?" _People like giving me a lot of nicknames here.._

"Screamer. Or would you prefer the Feisty One or Sexy?" Koko replied, brushing his dirty blonde hair out of his face.

"Do I have to choose?"

"Yes." Koko's friend said instantly. I sighed in exasperation.

"Could you please introduce yourselves like proper gentlemen? I mean, you did make a scene back there, and I seem to be racking up too much unwanted attention today."

"Oh, very sorry. I'm Tsubasa Andou, and this is Kokoro Yome. Oh, hey, Koko! I just got an idea for a nickname. We should call her Gray!" I shot him an inquiring look. "Well, your gray eyes are very distinctive and I just finished watching _Catch and Release_ with my girlfriend." His friend snickered quietly.

"Hey, at least I have a girlfriend." Tsubasa said defensively.

"At least I don't have to watch romance movies, like _The Notebook_ or _Pride and Prejudice_."

"Dude, that's low."

"Well you started it."

"Okay, fine, at least I didn't make an absolute ass of myself in 6th grade." Tsubasa shot victoriously.

"Oh, so pretty boy wants to fight dirty? Alright then, how about that time-"

"Look, hopefully you guys didn't drag me out of the cafeteria just to argue about who's better and whatnot. Is it alright if I call you guys by your first names?" They nodded mutely, surprised by my angry outburst. "Excellent, so what do you want with me?" They paused for a moment, and then shared a secretive glance with one another.

"We wanted to ask you.."

"If you're Natsume's secret lover-"

"Or something of the sort."

"Oh, like Natsume was in love with her-"

"But it turns out that Mikan likes his best friend-"

"So then he tried to piss her off with that awful remark of his-"

"And then that's when she slapped him? Very good, Watson." For a second, I was mesmerized by their perfect synchronization. _Wow, they can finish off each other's lines like Fred and George Weasley! That's amazing! Wait- what did they just say about me and him?_

"Okay, we don't have any chemistry together, we've never dated, we've never seen each other until today, and he's NOT interested." I stated adamantly. The two shared smirks.

"But are _you_ interested?" They said simultaneously.

I groaned with exasperation. "Forget it, you guys are obviously not being serious." I stalked off in a direction that took me away from those freaks and the rest of the student population. I didn't care if I got lost in the middle of nowhere, I just wanted to get away from everything. Thankfully, the two had enough brains to figure out that I wanted to be alone, unless they wanted to be in excruciating pain. Soon, I found myself at the entrance of the courtyard behind the high school; the one where Hotaru and I promised to meet. I looked for the Sakura tree and found it in a secluded clearing. I purposefully made my way over, came to a stop at the base of the tree, and tiredly dropped my bag down. I plopped down on the fluffy grass and proceeded to angrily take down my hair from its bun. Then, I fell back onto the soft grass with a passing sigh. My hair was all over the place and I was sprawled out on the ground. I knew that if someone came by right now, I would be in serious trouble for skipping school, but I didn't give a damn. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh, floral scent of the floating Sakura petals, mixed with the scent of.. musky cologne? My eyes instantly snapped open, and I realized that I drifted off into a content nap.

"Hey." I closed my eyes tightly and tilted my head towards his voice. _Please let it be an illusion, ohpleaseohplease!_ I slowly opened my eyes and saw Natsume with a confident smirk slathered all over his face. _Damn him._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: sorry about this short chapter! Finals are here!! _''

_chapter III_

"So…" The Jerk drawled casually. "What are you doing in my place?"

"Your what?"

"It's my place." He repeated slowly to me, smirking. I bristled at his mocking tone.

"Well I don't see any sign that says 'this is the place of the most pompous boy ever to walk the earth. Stay away'" His crimson eyes darkened a fraction when I talked back to him. _Ha, he's probably never been talked to like that by a girl._

"You haven't answered my question, Strawberries. Shouldn't you be at that meeting?"

"Meeting..? Oh wait! What time is it?" _How did you know I was meeting Hotaru here?_ _Crap, where is she anyway? Maybe she's trying to find me right now and she forgot all about our meeting or something!_ The Pervert looked at me with an incredulous expression, as I fretfully plucked at the hem of my skirt and bit my bottom lip. He sat down a few feet away from me, folding his arms behind his head, and stared up at the blue sky. I could sense his hesitancy to continue speaking with me, and my impatience was about to reach its breaking point when he spoke.

"School just ended." _Oh, thank goodness._ After a beat, he proceeded on. "You should leave now, while you still can, Sakura. People like you can't handle the truth." He turned his head towards me, and his eyes had a sincere tint to them. I gazed at him with a shocked expression. _He actually said my name?_

In that moment, as I gazed into his tainted eyes, I received a plethora of emotions; anger, resentment, loneliness, frustration... It all came to me, and I realized that Hyuuga's life is a story of darkness. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what a tough life he went through, and I pitied him. But at the same time, I admired his courage to continue on through the darkness, looking for a way out, with his head held up high and his shoulders firm._ I want to get closer to him..._ I finally snapped out of my reverie, reminding myself that he was a pervert. Unfortuantely, I discovered that my face was unbearingly close to his. I hastily pulled back, and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you trying to get me to stop going to this school?" At first I was horrified with myself as I watched his expression change from sincerity to him attempting to keep his anger in check, but then I became amused. _I would have never imagined myself being in this school, having a conversation, with someone I hardly know, that's going nowhere._ He looked at me like I was a freak, and slowly backed away from my large grin. "Well, sorry Buster, but it isn't happening."

"Err... so you're not an Alice then? And what's with that stupid smile on your face? You look ugly, Strawberries." My smile vanished. _Cocky little..._

"I have no idea what an Alice is, Jerkface." _An Alice? Is that a bad word here or something? _Right at the moment the Pervert opened his mouth I saw Hotaru running towards me. I got up from my place and ran towards her joyfully. _Hotaru! My savio-_ My thoughts were cut off when a large ball slammed into the side of my head.

"Moron." Hotaru said, holding what appeared to be a smoking paintball gun. "You ran off in the middle of lunch, and you didn't even tell me where you were going." _Ugh, that thing hurts as badly as the time someone hit my face with a rubber ball._ I held my head pitifully. "Oh, by the way Mikan, Mr. Narumi wants to talk with us right now." I saw Natsume stare meaningfully at me. _So this is the meeting he was talking about…_ I distantly felt Hotaru grabbing my hand and purposefully led me away from him. Strangely enough, his face held something similar to regret and loneliness. _What is up with that guy?_

After we walked out of earshot, Hotaru spoke. "What was Hyuuga talking to you about?" Her voice sounded too calm, like she was trying to hide something.

"Oh, nothing much, he was just yelling at me for being in his 'place.'" Hotaru gave me a searching glance, and then reverted back to her old position. _What are you hiding from me, Hotaru?_

We finally reached our destination; Mr. Narumi's personal office. I gulped audibly as I pushed the door open cautiously. _He's probably going to yell at me for skipping school today…_ _But why is Hotaru here?_

When we entered his room, Hotaru and I saw him sitting at his desk, looking at a folder. He looked up quickly; his lavender eyes met mine as I hesitated at the door. _Why was he looking at me with a guilty expression in his eyes?_ The thought quickly faded, though, when he abruptly got up from his seat.

"Ah, Hotaru and Mikan! I was expecting you two!" He quickly ushered us into a pair of plump armchairs. "So, how's the first day of school?" I answered by shrugging nonchalantly. He hurriedly cleared his desk, and I got a glimpse of what was on the folder. It could've been a trick of the light, or I was still tired or something, but it said "Sakura, Mikan." Narumi cleared his throat and my attention slipped back to his face. "So you are probably wondering as to why you are here, Mikan. I'm aware that Hotaru knows, am I correct?" She nodded silently. My eyes darted between the two. _What on earth is going on?_ Narumi continued on, "well, how should I put this…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "…your coming here was not a coincidence."

"What?"

"Well, meaning that the school has wanted you to come here ever since we found out about your… special talent."

"Are you trying to find a more delicate word to describe my bookworm-ish studying habits?" I was creeped out by the school. _How do they know about my study habits?_ A pale hand covered my tanned one. I turned my head to the side to see Hotaru, who was still facing forward, her face alert. I instantly knew that this conversation was going to be a life-changing one.

Narumi ran his hand through his dirty blonde locks. "Do you know anything about Alices?" Natsume's conversation with me ran through my mind. _"So you're not an Alice then?"_ Narumi understood my confused look. "There are special human beings out there who happen to have special abilities that are called 'Alices.'" My confusion deepened.

"You mean, talents like being able to be unearthly beautiful and handsome without having any plastic surgery?" Narumi chuckled tightly.

"No, Mikan. Alices are the abilities of the supernatural." Hotaru finally interrupted. I quirked an eyebrow at her while she placed her hand on mine. This action was only making me even more confused. _What are they talking about? Things like Alices can't exist, I don't believe it._ Hotaru continued on with her ridiculous explanation. "There are Alices out there that can harm one, or be beneficial to one; they come in many forms. For example, I have the Alice of invention."

"And I have the Alice of human pheromone." Mr. Narumi added in. My breathing began to increase along with my pulse. _This can't be true. I must be dreaming... Hotaru and Mr. Narumi have Alices? Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this? Is the government aware of this?_ _Who else around me have Alices, but never told me? _A picture of Natsume Hyuuga flashed through my mind, which caused my anger to flare up.

"Why are you telling me this, now? Is this some practical joke set up by the Pervert?" Hotaru held a pitying face as Narumi shook his head.

"I know this may seem surreal to you," I snorted loudly. "But everything is true. Why do you think you were chosen to come to this school?

"Because I studied hard and I applied to this school." He shook his head.

"You were chosen, because you have an Alice." My already quickened breath stopped. I could feel my migraine coming again with full force and suddenly, I felt nothing but my own rapid heart beat. It was as if my whole body became numb and my brain stopped working. I licked my dry lips.

"I have… an Alice?"

"Yes, Mikan, but we're not aware as to what your Alice may be. We can help you find out what your precious Alice is, but you must agree to stay enrolled as a student in the Alice Academy and to cut off all ties with the outside world; including your family." Narumi quietly murmured. He realized that I wasn't handling this revelation too well, and Hotaru must have realized too, because she gave my hand a comforting squeeze, but it didn't help.

Everything was just too much. Leaving my home, entering this absurd world, giving most of the student population an extremely terrible impression of me, and then finding out about this? Not being able to see Grandpa or Nana, and everything else was all too overwhelming. My body didn't know how to cope with all of my stress, so it did the only thing it knew how to do.

My world became black after that.

A/N: thanks a lot to Mikiramen for telling me about the comma thing!!


	4. Chapter 4

_chapter IV_

_"Mikan.. I love you so much, Mikan. It's going to be okay, Daddy and Mommy will visit you when you grow older.. So please, stay strong and always walk forwards."_

I slowly opened my eyes to a world of compressing darkness. I blinked rapidly as I felt something warm slide down my right cheek. Hastily, I wiped the lone tear that managed to squeeze out of my eye. _Where am I?_ I turned my head to the right and saw a rectangular window with its curtains down. I proceeded to look to my left, where I saw the door that led out to my salvation. _Ugh, I hate hospitals._ I plucked out the IV needle that was attached to my hand, and was halfway out of the sterile white bed I was in, when I heard two people walking down the hallway outside. The steps halted right in front of my room and I could hear them murmuring to one another. I was debating with myself, whether I should eavesdrop or not, but my curiosity got the better of me. I quickly padded over to the door and noticed it was ajar. _Perfect._ I sat down next to the door and listened to their conversation.

"Are you certain that she is an Alice?" Said a hoarse voice. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. There was something about that voice that made me sense he was a person you should never trust.

"I'm certain of it. Principle Yukihara came in while she was unconscious and told me that she has two Alices. It came as quite a shock when I heard them." The second voice sounded like the complete opposite of the first, but it had a crueler presence to it. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around my trembling body.

"Oh? Let's here it then, Principle Kuonji." I searched through my mind to remember where I heard his name before. _Ah, the principle of the elementary division? What is he doing here?_

"Mikan Sakura has the Alices of nullification and insertion." _I have the Alice of what?_

"Nullification? Insertion?"

"She can negate one's Alice and she can insert Alice stones into one's body in quick succession, without the backlash." _What is that supposed to mean? How can I negate one's Alice? I thought Hotaru said that Alices were the ability of the supernatural... This makes absolutely no sense. And what are Alice stones?_

"Meaning that she can insert a completely incompatible stone into one of us, and we won't experience the repercussions?"

"That is correct."

"This is an amazing discovery. I remember the last two students who were here who had those Alices... Hold on, does that mean she's the..." A slight rustling noise distracted me from what the man was going to say. I quickly spun around to see Hyuuga slumped on the ground under the window. I glared at him pointedly as the two men began to walk away from my room.

"It seems so."

"But the child of those two doesn't have that woman's other Alice?"

"Unfortunately, no. We will have to continue our search for..." Their voices died away as I angrily marched over to him.

"What are you doing in my room, Jerk face?" He didn't respond. Instead, his heavy breathing filled the heavy silence. "Hyuuga? What's wrong? Are you okay? Oh God." I kneeled down next to him and placed my hand over his forehead. _Whoa, he's really sweaty and warm. Oh God, what am I supposed to do in this moment? I have no clue how to take care of a fever! Okay, calm down Mikan. Remember what you learned from Nana... what was it again? Oh yeah, stop, drop, and roll? No, no, no, you do that when you're on fire, stupid. Well, for now I guess I have to wake him up and convince him to get into my bed... as weird as that sounds. _"Natsume, wake up already!" I gently shook his shoulder.

Unexpectedly, his crimson eyes snapped open and he shoved me to the ground. His garnet eyes were glaring at me with an animalistic intensity, as he grabbed a fistful my hair.

"You are NOT going to get away with kidnapping my sister, you bastards. I will join that stupid group, but you will regret it. You'll see, one day I will surpass this school and you, Persona, and I'll make sure to take my revenge on all of you." He gritted out, panting in between. _His sister's been kidnapped by the school? What kind of pain has he been through just to protect his sister... where are his parents? Shouldn't he hire a lawyer to deal with this? This is definitely against the law. Oh Mikan, what have you gotten yourself into? This academy is bonkers, that's for sure._

As I laid there, staring up at those blood red eyes, I saw something in that fog of hysteria. _He's scared out of his wits..._ Hesitantly, I reached for his shaking hand that was desperately clinging to my hair. Upon contact, he flinched, but I continued, quietly humming the first tune that came into my head. After a minute, his eyes seemed to come alive again; the Hyuuga I first met was coming back slowly. I continued to soothingly rub his hand, as he reluctantly let go of my hair. I sat up, relieved that he was finally calm again.

"Are you alright Natsume? C'mon, lets get you to sleep. You look extremely tired." Then, I saw the confused expression on his face. "What is it? Finally noticed that you're in my room?"

"No, it's just- why aren't you on fire?"

"Come again? Okay, now I'm certain that you need a rest. Let's go-" We both stood up at the same time, but Natsume toppled against me. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around him to prevent him from falling to the ground. I noticed that my heart sped up considerably. _What's wrong with me? My heart's beating irregularly and I feel kinda warm.._ I snapped out of my daze when I heard him murmur something. "Sorry, repeat that again? I didn't hear you."

"I said, 'Wow, you have no chest, Strawberries. What are you, a ten year old?' You seriously need a hearing aid." My attention immediately reverted to his hand; it was on my chest. I looked up at his face and saw his stupid smirk.

"UGH, you.. you..." I pushed him out of indignation and watched him land on my bed. "I frickin' helped you, you jerk, and you reply back with 'Wow, you have no chest, Strawberries'? Remind me to never-" My sentence was cut off when he pulled me to him. _Wait, wait, wait a moment. Okay, so let's rewind for a sec here. First, that pervert barges into my room, half delirious from a fever he still has, then he acts all crazy, after that he becomes his usual perverted self, and now he's... he's HUGGING me? Is he on drugs? Maybe one of the symptoms of having a fever is being incredibly PMS-y. Or maybe he's bipolar, or he's always been like this his whole life. If that's the case, then I feel terribly sorry for his parents._

"Thanks for the help I didn't need. Who knew you were secretly in love with me." I sputtered incoherently. "Well, you did call me Natsume- twice, might I add." I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to remember when I called him by his first name. _Ah. Unfortunately, I remember now._ I began to blush, angry at myself for being so caring.

"Well, I'm absolutely not in love with you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really, you stupid jerk."

"Then why aren't you struggling to get out of my embrace?" He caught me unaware with that comeback and the excellent retort I had ready, died at my lips. After staring at him with my 'deer caught in headlights' face, I began to attempt to squeeze out of his stupid hug. That was when I glanced up at the door and saw Hotaru leaning against the wall.

"Hotaru! How long have you been there?" Natsume turned his head to look at Hotaru.

"So you finally noticed. I just came in a second ago, Mikan. But who knew you and Hyuuga were together. I was debating whether or not I should leave you two alone or I should give you two a condom and then leave."

"Wait, no, this isn't what it looks like!" _This has got to be the worst situation. My friend thinks I'm going out with this guy._

"Don't get the wrong idea, Imai. I would never date, much less fall in love with this chest less girl." At last, I managed to get myself out of his bear hug. I felt a subtle sting in my heart, but brushed it off as my imagination.

"I was just teasing. Anyway, why are you here Hyuuga?"

"None of your business." Hotaru rolled her eyes at his childish response. "And what about you? What are you doing here?"

"I was taking care of Mikan, because this idiot collapsed from shock." The Jerk looked at me with emotionless eyes.

"So she knows?"

"Duh, why else would she faint?"

"Then the school is willing to let her in?"

"Yes, but they still need a reply-"

"Can you guys please stop talking to me in third person? I would appreciate it a lot if you could tell me what decision I need to make." Hotaru looked at me with surprise.

"You don't remember? The school needs to know whether you want to continue to come here or not." Natsume snorted.

"The school is giving her a choice? The school never cares about what others think. They make their damn decisions on their own. You're going to have to attend this academy, whether you like it or not." Hotaru ignored him.

"Do you have your answer?" I mulled over the question until I remembered the conversation I heard earlier. "I have a couple question I want to ask first, though." She motioned me to continue. "Well, I heard these two men talking in front of my room, and they were talking about me." Natsume and Hotaru glanced at one another. I ignored their looks. "Actually, the two were talking about my Alice, and they said I have two Alices." I glanced at Hotaru and saw that she was rubbing her temples.

"Continue, did they say what your Alices are?" Hotaru inquired in her usual monotonous voice. I could tell that it was a bit strained.

"One of the guys said that I had the Alice of Nullification and Insertion. I can 'negate one's Alice and insert Alice stones into one's body in quick succession, without the backlash.' What does that even mean?" Hotaru looked at me with calculating eyes.

"Your Alice of nullification prevents anyone from using their Alice on you, which would explain what happened earlier. And your other Alice, from the sound of that guy's explanation, means that you can force an Alice stone into anyone." Natsume explained suddenly.

"But what's an Alice stone?"

"People with an Alice learn the ability to create Alice stones. An Alice stone is the physical form Alices take on, but an Alice stone is only a fraction of the actual Alice. Alice stones can be incredibly useful. For example, if a person who has the Alice of teleportation creates an Alice stone, then that Alice stone can allow certain individuals to teleport. But, this is only temporary, because the Alice stone loses its power, as it is only a portion of the actual thing." Hotaru clarified. Everything from the conversation the two men had began to make sense.

"So why can only 'certain individuals' use them?"

"Well, Alices are just like people. Some individuals' personalities work well with one another, and others' personalities aren't compatible. If an Alice stone is used by an incompatible person, then it will rebound; giving the person headaches, nausea, bruises, sometimes even fevers." Just when Hotaru finished, I saw Natsume collapse on the bed. I gasped suddenly. _That's right, I forgot to about Natsume's fever!_ "Mikan?"

"Hotaru, thanks for the enlightening lecture, but can you please get the nurse? I totally forgot about Natsume's fever!" She looked at me curiously as I rushed over to the bed. "COULD YOU GET THE NURSE ALREADY?" She rolled her eyes and complied. I gently touched his forehead. _Oh no, his fever just got worse. What should I do, what should I do?_ I looked around the room in a frenzy, luckily, the nurse came in with Hotaru. She ushered us out of the room without another word and closed the door behind us. After a moment of silence, my stomach growled deafeningly. I felt my blood rushing up to my face. _Stupid stomach._ Hotaru rolled her eyes slightly.

"Let's head over to the cafeteria while we're waiting. You should be glad that tomorrow is the weekend."

"Since when did you become so caring?" I grinned. Hotaru let out a suffering sigh.

"We are roommates, have you forgotten already? Roommates are supposed to watch each others' backs and be concerned." My grin got brighter as I looped my arm around her pale one. At last, something was looking up for me, and it was then that I knew my decision.

"I'm going to stay here. At the Academy with you, Hotaru." I looked over at her face to see her reaction.

"Moron, you're not supposed to tell me. You're supposed to say that to Mr. Narumi." She turned her face towards me and smiled slightly. "But I'm glad you told me first. And I'm glad that you decided to stay." I abruptly stopped walking along with Hotaru.

"You know..." I looked down at our linked arms and fidgeted. "To tell you the truth, you're probably the first person who I feel immensely close to, besides my grandparents." Hotaru walked up beside me.

"Well I'm honored to be your first best friend, then." I looked at her uncertainly. _I don't want to be hurt again..._ I felt Hotaru's analyzing gaze on me. She held up her pinky. "I pinky swear I'll be there for you. Through better or worse. I definitely won't be there for you if you become poor though." My smile was renewed and I wrapped my pinky around her offered one. Simultaneously we linked arms and at that moment, I realized that the relieved feeling I was experiencing was all because of Hotaru.


	5. Chapter 5

_chapter V_

"So? How is Hyuu- I mean how is the Jerk doing?" I politely asked the nurse, I just came back from the cafeteria, and Hotaru went off on her own somewhere. The nurse beamed at me as if I was a kid who was bragging about the blisters on her hands.

"Oh, he is just dandy! He just had a minor fever, poor guy, it looked like he was a bit too stressed. He should be fine after a good night's worth of rest. He might get better if his pretty girlfriend went to take care of him..." She gave me an obvious wink, not noticing my clenched fists. I resisted the urge to kick her.

"I- Well that's... _dandy_. I think I will just peek into his room, thanks for the unnecessary comment." I responded with a strangled voice. The nurse nodded at me with approval, once again, not noticing my sarcasm laced remark, and bustled off to bother some other poor soul. I gently pushed the slightly ajar door. I could just make out a dark figure splayed out on the bed. I silently shuffled over to the moron and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Up close, I observed Hyuuga's long, dark lashes and his tanned skin. His silky, black hair was sprawled out on the pillow, and I could tell that under his hospital gown that his lean chest moved up and down to the rhythm of his slow breathing. His high sculpted cheek bones and face had no traces of any imperfections, but his brows bunched together like he was worried. I breathed in deeply and smelt the faint scent of sandalwood and autumn. Strangely, a hushed tranquility stole over me, as I sat there, unconsciously playing with strands of his hair. It was then that I saw a black scar on his shoulder. I had a feeling that it was not a tattoo, and that it was causing him a lot of pain, but the mix of revulsion, pity, and a want to protect him from the scar was not enough to overcome my drowsiness. _I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I just napped here for 30 minutes. I mean, it's not like he's going to wake up, right? It's not like I'm going to do anything immoral to him... yeah... just for a little bit..._ I snuggled under the covers and drifted off into a dream of sweet smelling trees, unknown to me that Hyuuga was watching my every action.

_It's so warm..._ I greedily moved towards this firm warmth, and burrowed my face into this warmth. I breathed in the woody scent that reminded me of home, and a sense of nostalgia stole over me. I clung onto this heat, wishing that it would never go away like my parents, and I felt its arms go around me. _Wait..._ I immediately opened my eyes, and saw Hyuuga's sleeping face near mine. I was about to scream, when the memories from last night came flooding into my mind. I tried to slither away from his embrace, freaked out by Hyuuga's lazy smile. _Oh god, he's smiling... is the end of the world finally here?_ I finally was able to get out of his death trap, dismissing the sudden pang of loneliness that poked my heart. Hyuuga's content grin turned upside down, and his eyebrows bunched together again, as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally awake, are you?" I commented, trying to gloss over the fact that I was trying to fix my disheveled hair and my hospital gown. Unfortunately, the Jerk was no idiot. He arrogantly smirked at me, and propped an elbow up as he watched me.

"So... was I a satisfactory pillow?" I grabbed whatever object that was in reach of me and threw it at him. It was a measly pen, much to my dismay. "I'm guessing that is a yes." I gave Hyuuga the dirtiest look I could muster, but this only made him chuckle. I turned away from his disgustingly flawless face and brushed my hair up into a high ponytail.

"How tall are you?" I narrowed my eyes at him with suspicion.

"Five feet four. Why do you ask? Are you going to make a nasty comment on my three sizes or something?" His smirk got bigger.

"No, but good guess. I was just wondering if you were tall enough to be eligible to be my girlfriend." Hyuuga got up from his hospital bed, and we both heard a small pattering noise. Simultaneously, we both looked at the ground and saw pebble sized stones that were an eerie black.

"Great. Not only are you an idiot, but you're losing your marbles!" I giggled at my own joke while Hyuuga picked up the pebbles and stared at them.

"These aren't mine. All of my Alice stones are red..." He trailed off as he looked at me with a face of realization. He quickly strolled over to the mirror that hung at the opposite end of the room and tugged his gown over one shoulder. I walked up behind him with a curious expression.

"What is it Sherlock?" I whispered humorously. Hyuuga adjusted his gown and looked intently at me.

"Do you know what kind of Alice you are, yet?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if it's right." I muttered. The moron didn't say anything, but looked out the window with a thoughtful face, surreptitiously slipping the pebbles into his gown's pocket, when Hotaru entered the room. We both spun around to face her, and I saw her holding my tote bag. I looked up to see her amethyst eyes bearing into my gray ones, and I felt her analyzing me. I silently mouthed to her "later." She nodded in response.

"You two can leave the hospital now." She said in her monotone voice. "But Mikan needs to go to Mr. Narumi's office. He says that he wants your answer." Hyuuga snorted, and I could literally hear him thinking _as if the academy is giving Strawberries a choice._ I thanked Hotaru and glared at Hyuuga pointedly.

"What?"

"Well, I need to change, so could you please get the hell out of my room?" He rolled his eyes.

"As if there's anything for me to see, anyway." I mimed strangling him as he sauntered out of the room. Hotaru snorted at my childishness. "I know what you're doing, by the way." I stopped my miming and stuck my tongue out at his back.

"Here are your clothes." She handed me my bag. She turned around the closed the door, and walked over to the stiff looking chair that was situated by the bed. As I began to change, she asked me what was happening before she entered the room, and I told her about the black pebbles, of course, I left out the part where I willingly slept on the same bed as the moron. Hotaru wore the same thoughtful expression as Hyuuga, and I could hear her mind whizzing through the explanations of why this could be. After I finished changing, Hotaru gracefully stood up from her chair. "I'm going to the library. Come over when you're done talking with that good for nothing teacher." I cheerily grinned at her.

"Then we can explore the campus!" Hotaru nodded in agreement and we left the hospital, going our separate ways.

I sighed with discontent as I stared at Mr. Narumi's door. When I first arrived at this door, I never got the chance to examine it... fortunately. His door was covered in obnoxious hot pink paper hearts and some of them even had the words "I love you" written on them, along with obese cupid stickers. As I wondered what happened to Mr. Narumi's childhood, the door swung open. He smiled kindly at me, and like before, he steered me into his office, closing the hideous door along the way.

"Have you come with your answer, Mikan?" He asked, gesturing with his pale hand for me to sit in the over stuffed chair.

"I... Well, first of all, it is not like I have a choice, right? I have a feeling that this school keeps all of the Alices they can find. I highly doubt they will accept a 'no' as an answer." Narumi chuckled quietly.

"You know this school all too well, Mikan. What you said is correct, we keep all the Alices we can get our hands on." His lavender eyes darkened with loneliness for a millisecond, but returned back to his normal expression. _What was that all about?_ "So I'm assuming that you've decided to stay in this school! Excellent. Now, I must explain some more things to you since you are now an official Alice." I rolled my eyes.

"More things? Are you going to tell me that I'm actually an alien and..." He laughed at my sarcastic remark.

"No, nothing of the sort. Basically, now that you're an Alice, you must follow our rules concerning your Alice. One, you must not use them on an ordinary citizen, and two, you must not expose, or tell, your abilities to anyone outside of this academy, including your family members. It is of the utmost importance that no one know you are an Alice, besides the people in Alice Academy." I looked at him with a curious look, and was about to ask him to elaborate, but he interpreted my look correctly. "This is mainly for your safety, because there are people who sell Alices for money, or kidnap them for their own use." I gulped audibly.

"Do I get any privileges?" I joked feebly. The burden of being an Alice was beginning to get heavy, and I began to fret over Grandpa. _What if someone manages to find out that I'm an Alice and they decide to hold Grandpa hostage so that they can get to me?_

"Well, we have a special evaluation system, here in Alice Academy, to determine what level you are, and your privileges depend on how high your level is. Privileges such as receiving discounts on food and at Central Town. Adding to that, you will now be using a currency called Rabbits- one rabbit translates to about 100 yen. These are basically gold coins that are given to the students every six months, I guess you could say that the academy gives you an allowance."

"And what is the evaluation system, and how do you evaluate an Alice? How about levels? How many are there?" I was surprised with how well I was handling all of this. I smiled proudly inside and gave myself a pat on the back.

"Well, we give evaluation tests, but they all differ from each other, and I can't disclose any more information on this, unfortunately. As for the evaluation system, we base one's level on how well they do on the test, and how well they do in school. I can't go into detail about this, but that is the gist of the system, and as for the levels, there are four- the single, double, triple, and special levels." I nodded with comprehension.

"So when do I begin my test?" Mr. Narumi stood up with a clap of his hands. "Right now, Mikan! Let's go, my precious little noob, off we go to the Principles' office for your evaluation test." I choked on my saliva and stared at my ludicrous teacher. I was so scared that I almost fainted right then and there. _WHAT? Bu-but I'm not even ready! I didn't get a chance to go over my math notes, because heaven knows I'm horrendous with it, and I didn't even get a chance to tell Hotaru to go back to our dorm! And- oh god. I'm absolutely not ready, I'm going to fail and I'm going to flunk out of this school!_ And as Mr. Narumi laughed gaily, dragging me along with him, I silently prayed to the man upstairs to let me do well on this test.


End file.
